Chapter 04 

While Managers Youngjun and Hyoan waited for Jungryoul to return back to the dorm, the Infinite boys sat in the living room, watching their own variety show (which they recorded on TV when it aired) 'Infinite Ranking King' out of boredom. It was the first episode, in which they had to pretend like they didn't know one another and it was their first meeting and whatnot.

The opening scene started with captions, a narrator and scenic views of the filming site. Woohyun first appeared on screen and Sunggyu commented as he chomped on potato chips, "Wearing those specs just to look cute, ugh." Woohyun stole a glance at him and smirked, He thinks I'm cute huh, heheheh. One by one they appeared and pretended to be strangers. When the room dates started, everyone had their own opinions.

"Yah, why are you sitting so close to Sungjong?" Sungyeol questioned, slapping 'Dongwoo's' leg which he was rubbing ointment (it's actually Johnson's® Baby Oil) on as a follow-up of the act. Myungsoo quickly pulled back his leg. "W-What? Sitting close to him will make it more convincing!" Myungsoo retorted. Sungjong who was sitting beside him laughed. At the same time, Sunggyu casually asked, "Why is Sungyeol being the third wheel in Woogyu's room?" The poor 'third wheel' glared at his hyung.

"I remember this episode and the second episode had lots of pairing moments," Hoya voiced out. Where was the lie?

"Myungjong for the win!" Sungjong exclaimed suddenly, affectionately grabbing Myungsoo's arm and pulling him away from the choding.

"No, no, 2Woo has more moments!" Woohyun shouted as well, resulting in a jealous dancer to glare at him. "We even went on a cafe date!" Dongwoo laughed out loud and nodded his head vigorously. "That 'date' was so awkward!"

"It was more awkward for me and Sungjong." Sunggyu shuddered at the thought of his 'museum date' with the maknae.

Then, the show reached the part where they had to choose a person to become a couple with to share their lunchbox. Again, the Infinite members continued being rowdy boys with lots of to share.

"Why didn't anyone come out for me?" Woohyun demanded to know. He immediately shot a look to Sunggyu. "What happened to Woogyu?!" Sunggyu laughed and gave a half-assed 'explanation', "We mustn't be too obvious, haha." Woohyun was as hurt as when he filmed the show.

"Why did you push me away then?" Sungyeol asked Myungsoo when L on-screen rejected both him and Dongwoo. "We mustn't be too obvious," Myungsoo simply copied what his hyung said. 

"Omo, we should create a pairing name for us," Hoya suggested when he saw himself on TV approach Sunggyu shyly to be his lunch couple. Sunggyu high-fived him and said, "The Gang Couple?" Sungjong cringed at his leader's (lack of) 'sense' and gave two suggestions, "Either Hogyu or Gyuya, they sound better than 'The Gang Couple'!" 

Hoya thought for a while. "I wanna be the top so 'Hogyu' it is!" After the words left his mouth, he realized how loud he was.

The room went quiet and he glanced around. His band mates were staring at him with the 'WTF'-look and his managers had stuck their heads of the room upon hearing him, their mouths agape. Just then, the dormitory's door opened, breaking the awkward silence as Manager Jungryoul entered. "Why is everyone staring at Woohyun?" he asked. 'Woohyun' avoided eye contact.

"Uh...n-nothing," 'Sungjong' said and everyone went back to watching the show, eating chips and standing around. Jungryoul shrugged and walked over to Youngjun and Hyoan. "Since the living room's taken, let's talk in the kitchen," he then made his way to the kitchen with his other two colleagues following behind.

The three managers gathered at the dining table and Hyoan whipped out his iPad. He opened up the Youtube app and showed it to the others. When he was waiting for Jungryoul to arrive, he had searched online for 'Infinite's fanmeet (insert date)'. Most of the results were fancams and fan accounts from Inspirits and he clicked on the fancam which had the most views. The video buffered and loaded for a while, and then...

"KYAAAAAAHHH OPPAAAA! OMO OMO OMO!!! OPPA~ KYAAAA!! SARANGHAE~! YOU'RE SO HANDSOME!! OHMYGOD MY HEART!!! AHHHHH~!"

The three men jumped in their seats, startled at the sudden screams coming from the iPad. The video was shaky (since it's a fancam) but this fan was at a spot where she could see the entire stage, she probably stood smack right in the middle of the crowd. And she might have been taller than other fans.

Infinite sang the first line of BTD and then the fans shouted, sounding clearer than Infinite's voices, "KIM SUNGGYU! JANG DONGWOO! NAM WOOHYUN! LEE HOWON! LEE SUNGYEOL! KIM MYUNGSOO! LEE SUNGJONG! INFINITE!"

So this is what they call a fanchant, The managers thought. They continued watching the video until it reached the highlight.

The managers saw Sunggyu (not) faint and then the fans went all hysterical. The camera zoomed in on the leader who lay on the stage, unmoving. Followed by an echoing thud. The camera immediately shifted to Dongwoo who had fallen on stage as well. The fancam ended after Infinite left the stage with their managers.

Jungryoul scrolled down to read the comments.

XoXosweetie: Get well soon, Sunggyu-oppa! :(

1234567890: Dongwoo looks like he fell hard...

baebaebae: I can even hear the 'ttuk' sound when Dongwoo-oppa fell >.<

Destiny111: Gyuzizi must be so tired.. i hope he's okay

pinksocialpanda: Please let them get more rest!

willhippo: Aww... Sungyeol helping Dongwoo till the end.. Dongyeol <3

eLementyo: OMG :O it looks so painful

hello1993: Poor Sunggyu and Dongwoo.. Rest well!!!

AbCdEfg: Is it just me or are their dancing positions different???

"We should let them get more rest," Jungryoul said after reading. He returned the iPad to Hyoan who continued reading the comments section (for his own amusement). Youngjun then said, "I'll clear their schedule for the next four days then, postpone them if we can." Jungryoul had gotten up to get a glass of water and he asked, "How's Sunggyu and Dongwoo? Are they feeling better?"

Youngjun looked out to the living room and saw the Infinite boys laughing and shouting to one another. "They seem fine to me," he paused. "But it seems as if they've...changed?" Jungryoul raised his brow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. It's like...they've been calling each other the wrong names? For example, isn't Hogyu the pairing name for Hoya and Sunggyu? So why is Woohyun the one saying it?" 

"You're confusing me," Jungryoul immediately stated. 

"Maybe Woohyun ships Hogyu," Hyoan guessed.

"But isn't Woohyun with Sunggyu?" Youngjun asked again.

"Yeah, and Hoya's with Dongwoo, right?" Jungryoul continued.

"Dongwoo looks especially close with Sungyeol just now though..." Youngjun added on.

"Oh come on, guys! Let them do what they want and be with who they want."

The other two managers nodded. 

They knew that the idols they were in-charge of weren't exactly 'straight', except maybe Sungjong. Dating within the group is prohibited, and there were definitely no exceptions for groups with only males in it. But the managers, being the cool, easy-going, open-minded, cool guys, they kept it a secret for them. You could say they approved of the boys' 'more-than-friends-relationship'. In fact, they shipped their own OTP (secretly).

They were about to tell the boys about the next four no-schedule days, when all of a sudden, they heard yelling and the throwing off cushions ('thump!' 'thump!' 'thump'!) and a plastic bowl hitting the floor. They rushed out of the kitchen and to the living room where they saw Infinite fighting.

Sungyeol was pulling 'Sunggyu's' hair like a crazy dog on the sofa while 'Sungjong' tried to break them apart.

'Woohyun' was chasing 'Hoya' around the sofa (with an extremely scary expression) while 'Myungsoo' tried to intercept and stop them.

'Dongwoo' was watching by the side, eyes wide in shock and not knowing who to help.

And the stunned managers had the same confused look as they tried to register the scene going on in front of them.

"Argh, Myungjong doesn't exist! Only Myungyeol!"

"Hyung, I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! LET GO OF MY HAIR!!!" Isn't Sunggyu the oldest? Why is he calling Sungyeol 'hyung'?

"Sungyeol-ah! Calm down, don't kill our only maknae!" What does Sungjong mean? Sunggyu's not the maknae..

"YAH! Nam Woohyun! Stop running!" Why is Woohyun telling himself to stop running?!

"I will if you stop chasing!"

Dongwoo finally managed to grab Hoya, who had escaped from his grip at least five times, and held him back while Woohyun cleverly decided to use Sunggyu as his protective shield. "Dude, chill!" Dongwoo shouted, trying to calm Hoya down but to no avail as the dancer broke free once agan and made a mad dash to Woohyun who was hiding behind the leader.

Hoya crashed into them, bringing down both Woohyun and Sunggyu, who at the same time, managed to pull Sungyeol away from Sungjong. Sungjong scrambled to the other end of the sofa and touched his beautiful hair. Dongwoo hurriedly sat above Hoya to prevent him from getting up. But by sitting on top of Hoya, he added more weight and caused the people below them to yelp in pain, especially Sunggyu who had backaches.

Myungsoo was the first to spot his managers and he ran to them. "Hyung, hurry up! Are you just gonna stand here and do nothing? Someone's gonna die, I'm tellin' you!" he shouted anxiously.

Hyoan saw 'Dongwoo' running and asked, "Is your leg okay already?" Myungsoo instantly jellified his legs and fell to the floor. "Nope. But that's the least of your worries now." He made his point by pointing his finger to his band mates who were all tangled with one another on the floor, yet still screaming furiously. The three managers got into action. 

Jungryoul legit tackled Hoya from behind like a rugby player before he could reach a struggling Woohyun. Grampa Gyu wriggled his way out from beneath the pile and flopped down on the sofa with a hand placed on his heaving chest. Youngjun went over to make sure Sungjong was all right since he looked as if he might cry (or burn down the apartment for revenge) anytime. Meanwhile, Myungsoo had latched himself onto Sungyeol so the tall giant wouldn't go and trample on the youngest.

"Holy ! What is wrong with you all?!" Youngjun shouted. As expected, no one answered. He exchanged knowing glances with the other two managers.

Should we do that?

No one's gonna die tonight, right?

Manager Jungryoul pulled Hoya with him to the storage room (a.k.a storeroom) of their dorm, flung open the door and ordered him to get in. Hoya sulked but obeyed and stepped in. The storeroom was spacious since it was currently still empty, with only boxes stacked at the back/in the corners and two shelves at the sides with some items on them. Hyoan then signaled for Woohyun, Sunggyu and Dongwoo to get their asses inside.

Woohyun, of course, hesitated but Jungryoul lightly pushed him in before he could protest. Myungsoo quietly got up with Sungyeol and entered the storeroom too. Sungjong was the last to enter but before he did, he said, "I don't think this is a good idea, hyung. Considering the fact that we just had a rough battle..."

But none of the managers listened to 'Sunggyu'. Youngjun went to grab blankets from their rooms and tossed it into the storeroom for them, just in case it got cold in there. Hyoan took Myungsoo's favourite bamboo pillow which had rolled off somewhere during the 'battle' and threw it at 'Myungsoo'. "Play with it." 'Dongwoo' quickly snatched it away.

"Give me your phones," the managers demanded, their hands stretched out. Those who had them in their pockets surrendered them.

"You guys are grounded in this storage room! We're not letting you out until you guys sort out your...uhm... Feelings, or whatever the is going on!" With that, Manager Jungryoul slammed the door shut, leaving the 7 boys in total darkness, and locked it from outside. Youngjun took a chair from the dining table and propped it up against the doorknob.

"Have fun in there!" Hyoan shouted with a slight hint of amusement in his tone (and left to watch TV in the living room with the other two managers).

The boys responded by kicking and pounding on the door.

Hey, if you're bored and wanna procrastinate homework/stuffs like me, why not (re)watch Infinite Ranking King ;) 

Thank you for reading <3