~*~

Chapter II

Beginning of Infinity

10월 3일

Myungsoo was alone in the dorm when the first ache appeared.

It was just a few weeks before their comeback stage and all of them were busy.  Well, all of them were busy at all times, even if it wasn’t a comeback so it didn’t really change their schedule a whole lot, except their sleeping and free time hours were cut down to a minimum. 

Myungsoo returned back to the dorm from his vocal practice, feeling more drained than usual.  During the whole day, he struggled to keep coughs in.  His vocal teacher for looking kind of pink in the face, but Myungsoo couldn’t reply unless he wanted to start coughing and not stop for another five or ten minutes. 

The pain in his chest was lingering on the sides of his mind while he was out doing his activities.  Now that he was back home and alone, the pain grew, taking over his chest.

He stumbled into the room, shutting off the lights and closing the blinds, sending himself into the night.

He curled up on his bed and waited for the pain to calm down, not caring that he was still in his street clothes, jeans, jacket and even shoes, he would rather just be wearing sweats, but the thought of getting up again made him feel exhasted.  Pain started to stab in his chest again.  Myungsoo coughed, somehow hoping that he could cough the pain out of his chest.

Maybe it would get better after he took a short nap.  Sungyeol would always that he thought that the solution to most things were to sleep, but every single second of rest was precious to him.  Myungsoo liked being alone, that meant that he could believe anything that he wanted.

About two hours later, Myungsoo heard someone open the door and close it again followed by footsteps heading into the living room.

“Hello?  Myungsoo?”  Sunggyu called.  “Are you home?”

Myungsoo smiled, even through the discomfort in his chest.  Now Sunggyu was home, he knew that Sunggyu would take care of him.  Sunggyu was a great leader for Infinite.  No matter how many times they would laugh at him for being a ‘grandpa’, he would just shake it off and take care of them when they were sad, happy, unwell or celebrating.  Sunggyu would always know where all of the members were, although most of the time, they all did, but Sunggyu knew when they had to leave the house, which members were at home or at a recording and when they would be home.

Myungsoo didn’t bother to reply as he heard Sunggyu walk through the dorm, putting something away into the fridge before coming into their room.

“Myungsoo-yah?”

He grunted in acknowledgement, raising one hand to block out the light coming from the hallway as Sunggyu opened the door. He gently pulled off Myungsoo’s shoes that he was still wearing and tucked the blanket higher to his chin.  His bed sagged slightly as Sunggyu sat down on the edge, his warm hand landing on his thigh.  “Are you okay, Myungsoo?” Sunggyu asked, gently rubbing his leg. 

“I’m good,” Myungsoo whispered with a faint smile.

“Are you sure?” Sunggyu asked, moving to put his hand on Myungsoo’s forehead.

Myungsoo tiredly swatted away his hand.  “It’s okay, I just need some rest.”

Sunggyu retracted his hand and patted his shoulder.  “I’ll tell the others to keep it down, okay?”

“I don’t have a migraine, hyung, it’s just a small cough,” Myungsoo whispered.  “You don’t need to be quiet…”

“Well, it’s better for us to keep it down, don’t you think?  All of us can get really noisy at times,” Sunggyu said, a glimmer of laugher in his voice.

Myungsoo shook his head again, opening one eye slowly to look at Sunggyu.  “It’s really okay, hyung.  It’s just probably the stress getting the better of me.”

Sunggyu nodded and gently his arm.  “You shouldn’t run yourself to the ground,” he said gently.  “I’ll be outside if you need anything.”  He patted Myungsoo’s shoulder before heading over to the door.  “I hope you feel better.”

Myungsoo grunted in response and let his eyes fall shut as Sunggyu closed the door behind him. 

~*~

Slowly, each of the Infinte members returned to the dorm.  Without having to listen very hard, Myungsoo could tell who was coming home.  All of the members had very different personalities, reflecting on their movements around the dorm.  Each of their different movements filled the dorm with cheerful movements and sounds, making it what they called home.

“Hello, we’re home!” Dongwoo yelled.  Myungsoo heard the thump of shoes being kicked off the wall as usual.  Dongwoo was never the one to put things away neatly right away, rather he memorized where he put his things, usually in his overloaded bag, and went back to get them later. After the thump of Dongwoo’s shoes against the wall, there was the farmiliar sound of Woohyun opening and closing the closest, putting his shoes away neatly.  Myungsoo smiled in the darkness, he knew that Woohyun, out of all of them, cared about his ‘airport’ image the most therefore, he took care of his shoes the greatest.

They all for it, but Woohyun still smiled as he knew they were just taking care of him as he took care of them in his turn.

“Hey, hyung!”  Dongwoo greeted Sunggyu, his voice filled with energy, just like it always was.  “Ho-”

Sunggyu interrupted him and said something softly and Dongwoo’s voice quieted down immediately.  Myungsoo sighed and started to fall back to sleep. He would’ve preferred if they had kept talking, when he heard their voices, he knew that they were near by and he felt the presence of home around him.

A cough wracked its way out of his throat and he fell limp on the bed after the coughing fit was over.  Myungsoo drifted off again, knowing that the three oldest Infinite members were home and right outside the door.

~*~

“Hey!  Someone!”

Myungsoo opened one eys slowly from his sleep, watching the light underneath the door to the common area. 

“Sunggyu-hyung!  Dongwoo-hyung!  Woohyun!  Someone open the door!  I don’t have my keys, I left them in my other pants!”  Sungyeol was yelling through the door, knocking with his foot.

Myungsoo smiled, Sungyeol, just like Dongwoo, was on the not neat end of the spectrum, but still, usually, Sungyeol, the tallest, the clumsiest, never did leave his keys or phone off his person.  Myungsoo nearly stood up to open the door for Sungyeol when the rapping stopped and he heard the door open.

“…you left your keys in your pants?  Why can’t you put them on your desk like a normal person?  Or you know, like put them in your other pants?” Sungjong was saying as he closed the door behind him and Sungyeol. “Really, hyung?”

Myungsoo smiled as he rolled over in the darkness as he listened to Sungjong teasingly scold Sungyeol as they entered the dorm.  Sungjong always looked after the others, most of the time, he was the one that didn’t need looking after.  Sungjong always had his own spirit, unafraid to challenge his hyungs, not even Sunggyu, but when ever it ws needed, he listened to the older members. 

Myungsoo smiled as he heard the soft chatter of the others in the common area, the sounds of home lulling him to sleep. 

~*~

Myungsoo didn’t hear Hoya come back home, but then the door opened and a shadow fell across his room.

“Hey, Myungsoo,” Hoya said in a loud whisper.  “Are you okay?”

Myungsoo smiled.  Hoya was always warm and caring, like a warm blanket to keep all of them warm.  Sometimes, on stage, Hoya would be all tough and badboy like, but as the cameras turned off, Hoya would always return back to his warm and caring person.  Hoaegi.

“I’m fine, Hoya,” Myungsoo whispered, smiling tiredly in the dark.  “Thank you though.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded into his pillows, not bothering to lift his head, he didn’t want the others to worry.

“Do you need anything?”

He opened his mouth, but closed it again as another crushing cramp hit his chest, this time with a sharp stabbing pain as well.  Myungsoo gasped in pain and surprise and he curled up again, trying to resist the urge to cough, knowing that coughing would just bring him more pain.

Hoya was immediately by his side, his warm hand on his shoulder as he called for the others.  “Hyung!  Sunggyu-hyung!”

“Don’t call them,” Myungsoo weakly protested.  “It’s okay, it really is.”

Hoya’s brow furrowed.  “Myungsoo, it isn’t.  That gasp didn’t sound so good.”

Sunggyu hurried into the room.  Myungsoo covered his face with his hands in embarrassment.  All of the members were very prideful, if they could help it, they would try to do everything by themselves.  This time, Myungsoo wanted to refuse help again, but he had a feeling that if he did that, it would only fuel the lingering worry that he could feel around Sunggyu and the other members, who were hovering around the door.

“Myungsoo.” Sunggyu gently pulled at his shoulder to turn him to face him and lowered his hands. “You said you were okay.”

He nodded.  “I am, I just kinda…” He got cut off by a cough again and a stabbing pain.

Sunggyu placed his hands on his cheeks, making him hold still as he checked his temperature.  “Myungsoo, you’re burning up.  You’re not okay.”  The worry around Sunggyu was apparent in his words as he gently brushed his thumb against his forehead.

Myungsoo sleepily waved off Sunggyu’s hands. “It’s okay, hyung, it’s just a cough, and maybe a slight fever, I’ll be okay.” Myungsoo mumbled.  “I’m okay… really.”

“No,” Hoya interrupted.  “Myungsoo, you really aren’t okay.  So just shut up and let us take care of you.”

~*~

Later that night, Sungjong crept into his room and checked on Myungsoo. Myungsoo tossing and turning on the bed, his arms sprawled across the sheets, his right knee in the air and the blanket twisted and drapped over his torso.  His face was soft in sleep, innocent like a baby.

Myungsoo, just like the others, had a stage face, L, and his real face, Myungsoo.  Sungjong always thought of them as different people but he loved both of them equally.  L was quiet and stoic, keeping his cards close to him, where as, while Myungsoo also kept his cards close, he smiled much more and laughed more than L would.

L was the one with staight hair and cold eyes, while Myungsoo was the one with curly-ish hair and warm eyes.  Woohyun had fun teasing Myungsoo during their ‘Man in Love’ era where he had curly-ish hair and had to lose some of the coldness in his gaze, sometimes becoming Myungsoo for a few moments.

Either way, when they got off stage, they got Myungsoo back, always the same warm hyung. 

Sungjong brushed Myungsoo’s cheek, and frowned when he realized that it was too warm.  Earlier, Sunggyu and Hoya had said that Myungsoo had a fever, forcing him to take some pills to break his fever in his half asleep state.  They all wanted to help, but they all agreed that it would be better for Myungsoo if he was alone.

Myungsoo stirred and opened and closed his eyes slowly, his eyes glittered in the half light.

“Myungsoo?” Sungjong whispered. “Hyung?  Are you awake?”

He didn’t answer, he was already asleep again.  Sungjong smiled and straightened Myungsoo out on the bed, gently tucking the blanket around him.

Sungjong smiled as he thought how different Myungsoo was.  On one end, he would be cold, mysterious and chick, but on the other end, he would be a talkative idiot.

Myungsoo was also the one who snacked every five seconds, the one who would sleep in the most, the one who was scared of everything and the one who the fans always called the most handsome. He was one of seven, one of infinity.  Each of them made one part of Infinite, together they made something that’s more than what they were alone, more than they would ever be alone.  As the seven, as Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Woohyun, Howon, Sungyeol, Myungsoo and Sungjong, they were more, and together, they were Infinite. 

Sungjong smiled again and brushed back Myungsoo’s messy hair off his forehead.

“Good night, Myungsoo.  Sleep well.”

~*~

“M…soo… up… can… hear… Myung… ungs… woo! Ho… eol! … ung…”

He slowly opened his eyes to hazy slits.  Someone was standing over him, shaking his shoulder. 

“Myung… Myungsoo-yah!”

Myungsoo took a deep breath.  His chest exploded into fireworks, he cried out, gasping for a breath.

A hand reached out into the haze around him and pressed against his chest, relieving some of the pain.

The room felt too hot as he tried to in another breath through the coughs and his world spun around him.

~*~

It was a busy morning in the Infinite’s dorm, just like any other morning.  Sungyeol and Dongwoo were occupying the washrooms, Woohyun and Hoya were in the kitchen, fixing some breakfast for everyone, Sungjong was in the common area of the apartment, texting someone.

If it was any other day, it would’ve been the same schedule, wake up, get ready, head off to the salon or to their first schedule, but it wouldn’t be another normal day.

Infinite would never return to their old schedule again.

“Guys!  Let’s go, we’re going to be late!”  Sunggyu yelled through the dorm.

“Be paitent, Sunggyu-hyung, they’re getting ready in their own time,” Sungjong said, not looking up from his phone.  

Sunggyu sighed and nodded.  “Fine, Sungjong-ah.”

Sungjong looked up from his phone and smiled, seeing the worry in his eyes that they would be late.  “Don’t worry, hyung,” Sungjong said gently.  “We still have time.”

He laughed and ruffled Sungjong’s hair which to Sungjong frowned to and patted down his hair again.

“Hey, where’s Myungsoo?”  Sunggyu asked, realizing that Myungsoo still hadn’t come out of his room.  “Do you think that he’s okay?  His temperature was pretty bad last night.”

Sungjong shrugged and returned to his phone.  “Go check him yourself.” 

He glared at the youngest for a quick second before heading over to Myungsoo’s room, not knowing that his steps started everything.

“Myungsoo-yah?” he called before he entered the room.

When there was no answer, Sunggyu quietly opened the door.  Myungsoo was still on his bed, the covers tossed over his head as he still slept soundly.

“Myungsoo,” he called softly, sitting down on the edge of the bed and tugging at the blanket covering Myungsoo’s head. “Myungsoo, get up. It’s morning.”

Myungsoo rolled over slowly, his face crumbling as he resisted Sunggyu’s attempts to wake up, burying his face into Sunggyu’s thigh.  Sunggyu jumped as Myungsoo’s body warmth pierced through Sunggyu’s pants.  He was too warm.

“Myungsoo, wake up, please.  Can you hear me?”  Sunggyu shook Myungsoo’s shoulder.  “Myungsoo!  Myungsoo!  Wake up!”

Myungsoo muttered illegibly, he waved his hand around to ward off Sunggyu even though the attempt was half hearted.

Sunggyu shook Myungsoo’s shoulders again.  “Wake up, Myungsoo-yah.”  Myungsoo whined in protest like a little boy as he tried to bury himself closer into Sunggyu’s waist.  His too warm hands curled around Sunggyu’s shirt, his temperature made him feel like a boiler.

Sunggyu grabbed the themometer that they had previously left on the bedside last evening and shoved it into Myungsoo’s mouth.  He brushed his hand against Myungsoo’s cheek, hoping to wake him up as the themometer beeped.

Sunggyu pulled it out of Myungsoo’s mouth, trying his best to ignore  the fact that Myungsoo had not protested or woken up through the whole thing.  He read the numbers on the themometer and his heart jumped into his throat.  “Oh my god.  Dongwoo-yah!  Woohyun-ah!  Howon-ah! Sungyeol-ah!  Sungjong-ah!” Sunggyu yelled in panic.  “Come in here! Hurry!”

Myungsoo’s eye lids twitched as finally Sunggyu’s panicked yells pierced through his fever fogged mind and his eyes opened slowly.  His dark eyes flickered around the room, fever glazed, not taking in anything.  There was a slight pink flush on his cheeks as his eyes creased in pain.

“Myungsoo-yah!  Myungsoo!”  Sunggyu yelled again, shaking the other again who didn’t respond, didn’t even make eye contact.  “Can you hear me?  Are you okay?”

“What’s going on?”  Sungjong and Woohyun burst into his room.

“His temperature is too high,” Sunggyu snapped. “Call the managers!”

Myungsoo started coughing so hard that Sunggyu was worried that he would choke. 

Dongwoo, Sungyeol and Hoya raced into the room too, crashing into Woohyun as he ran out of the room looking for a phone.  Sunggyu could distantly hear Woohyun calling for their managers, telling them to hurry, but all of his attention was on Myungsoo in his lap.

“Myungsoo!” Sunggyu shook him and slapped his cheeks, gently in an attempt to not to hurt him, but desperately needing to know if he could hear him, as there was a slight break in his coughing fit.  “Myungsoo, can you tell me where it hurts?”

He didn’t seem to hear him as he gasped loudly for a breath, his eyes screwed shut as loud coughs continued to rip their way out of his chest.

“Does your chest hurt, Myungsoo?  Can you nod?” Sunggyu reached out and rested his hand on Myungsoo’s chest, hoping to take away some of the pain.  “Please, Myungsoo, answer me please.”

~*~

He was leaning up against something warm and comforting.  It made him feel safe, pushing down the other feelings of confusion and pain.

Something tickled in his chest and he let out a rattling cough again.  He closed his eyes again and gasped for a breath between coughs, doing his best to stop the coughing.

A cold hand touched his cheek, brushing softly against it.  He sighed and opened his eyes slowly again.  Soft brown eyes stared down at him.  He shakily reached up to touch the face attatched to the brown eyes.  Slowly, the mist around the eyes cleared up and a soft pair of lips mouthing his name appeared.

“Woohyun…” he murmured, recognizing the person he was leaning on.

“He can hear us,” someone, probably Woohyun, said excitedly.  “Myungsoo?  Myungsoo, are you okay?”

He shakily gripped his jacket. “Wh…whe… re we… hyung?” he whispered. “I’m…”

“Shhhhh.”  Woohyun gently hugged Myungsoo against his shoulder. “Shhhh, it’s okay.  You’re okay.  We’re in the car on the way to the hospital.”

Myungsoo nodded weakly. “Why are we in going to the hospital?”

“Shhh,” Woohyun murmured, fussing with Myungsoo’s hair.  “Just keep your eyes open, okay?”

He nodded, pressing his face against Woohyun’s chest.  “You’ll stay with me?” he whispered.

“I’ll stay, all of us will stay.” 

Myungsoo clung closer to Woohyun until the car jolted to a stop.  The door slid open and someone was taking him by the arm, pulling him into the cold air outside of the van. 

He could tell it was his manager, Hyoan, so he trusted him to take him where ever they were going.  Woohyun still had a grip on his other arm, keeping him grounded and whatever fear he had from their unknown destination was washed away with Woohyun beside him.

“His name is Kim Myungsoo,” someone was saying, to which Myungsoo wanted to protest that he could say that himself but he couldn’t find the strength to open his mouth.  “He’s had a high fever, and he’s coughing a lot, he’s in pain, please help him.”

Hyoan and Woohyun were pushed away from him as a different set of hands pressed him down against a soft surface and placed a plastic mask over his face.

Myungsoo struggled to keep his eyes open as the world spun around him  and tried to focus on Woohyun’s face right next to him.

“No family medical history… well as far as we know,” the voice, not Woohyun’s, but Sunggyu’s, continued, a helpless and pleading tone crept in.  “Just please, please help him.”

Before he knew it, he was being rolled away, away from Sunggyu’s voice, the other’s presence and Woohyun’s warmth.  Myungsoo protested weakly, flailing for Woohyun’s hand again.

“Myungsoo-ssi, calm down, we’re going to get you back together again,” a nurse said calmly.

Myungsoo shook his head. “Woo…”  He tried to sit up again.  The movement took his breath away and the pain in his chest returned.  He screwed his eyes shut again, coughing, as pain exploded in his chest.

Woohyun’s hand was back on his shoulder.  Myungsoo pulled open his eyes again and looked up at Woohyun, his hand was tembling as he gripped Woohyun’s hand in his.  “Hyu…”

Woohyun gently brushed his cheek and if it wasn’t for the fever fogging his sight, he would’ve seen the tear falling down Woohyun’s cheek.  “It’s okay, Myungsoo,” he whispered.  “I’m right here.  I’m right here…” 

HELLO, DEAR READERS! Sorry for lack of updates. 

I wrote this part back in September so their room arrangements were JongMyungGyu, Woohyun, Sungyeol, and Purple Dinosaurs, and it was getting complicated as I was trying to change it so I left it like how it was. 

I'm sorry for lack of updates again, school's been dragging me around and smashing my face against the ground. 

Comment, subscribe and upvote please! thank you! i love to talk to you again soon! I'll update sooner this time! which at the earlist will be... later, i have performance next weekend, then school trip the one after, then finals, THEN SUMMER HOLIDAYS, I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER HOLIDAYSSSSS!!! 

Biebie! I'll see you soon!